The eponymous maw of the largemouth bass — and the fish’s ability to suck prey into that gaping gullet in a rapacious strike — are part of the lore and legend of the bass to the many anglers who pursue it.

The school’s curriculum recounts the experience of Mao’s soldiers during the early years of the revolution, who are portrayed as heroically fighting to free China from rapacious warlords and Japanese invaders.

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'rapacious.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.